Á«»¨Ö±²¥

If you buy a limited edition, high-performance coupe – such as the BMW M4 CS, you’d be forgiven for only taking it out on weekends, or for only using it to tear around your favourite race track. Now take the same CS recipe and apply it to a family-friendly estate car – the BMW M3 Touring; you’re left with a lot of conflicting ideas, even if it’s one of the most thrilling rides you’ve ever experienced.

To find out if BMW’s pursuit of performance has compromised the rather excellent M3 Touring, I took a CS version away for a long weekend, getting some serious mileage under my belt on motorways, twisting country lanes and through small towns.

No matter where I drove, the M3 CS Touring was undoubtedly a head turner, be it for the divisive front-end styling, excellent shade of British Racing Green, shouty gold wheels or even the fact that it’s an ‘M’ estate car. I’d probably be boring and spec one in black with black wheels, because the red pin-striping – unique to the CS model – is loud enough for my taste.

There’s something about a wagon that makes a performance car a bit more approachable to those who otherwise deem them pointless, with one passer-by saying ‘Oh look it’s an M3…hang on, it’s an estate!’

Though it only takes one look to see that the CS model loses some points to the regular estate car, with the addition of an all-carbon fibre centre console. I understand that the M3 had to shed some pounds to live up to the CS name, but would it have killed BMW to retain the front cup holders?

And while the heavily-bolstered bucket seats look epic, hug you in fast corners and are surprisingly comfortable around town, on a round-trip from London to Wales the lack of lumbar adjustment and lower back support absolutely exhausted my girlfriend and I. It’s also impossible to get in and out of them gracefully, especially if you adjust your steering wheel low and far back as I do. Those bolsters are going to wear very quickly.

Get to the right road, however, and all of the M3 CS Touring’s foibles are forgiven. It simply comes alive, egging you on to carry speed through corners with laser-accurate steering and buckets of grip.

Yes you’re always aware of its heft, especially across its pumped-up rear wheel arches, when enjoying a narrow country lane. Yet it never feels ungainly in the way the BMW M5 Touring does, shrinking around you; rear-view mirror playing mind games, with the upright rear window seemingly miles away.

Even on the rare occasion you do need to slow down for a corner, it’s a riot. The M3 Touring’s brakes are prodigiously powerful, and its brutish inline-six engine is at its most sonorous when accelerating between bends.

Yet somehow, the CS Touring feels even more comfortable around town than a typical M3 wagon. There’s no denying that it’s firm, but the tweaks to the suspension tuning and smarter dampers means the sportier version does a better job of managing potholes than the ordinary car; a happy by-product, clearly.

Add to that the retained boot space, room in the back seats and the oh-so-handy rear window hatch, the M3 CS Touring loses almost no practicality compared to the regular car.

It’s rapid, fun to drive, practical and – while I only managed to achieve 24mpg over my trip, you’ve got to expect that from a high-performance machine. All for the small sum of £126,000…before options. Ouch,

There simply isn’t a better one-car-does-all solution than the BMW M3 CS Touring, but for that much money, a BMW X5 daily driver and a used BMW M4 to chuck around a track makes a bit more sense.

Car change? Á«»¨Ö±²¥!

Looking for a new set of wheels? With Á«»¨Ö±²¥ you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Á«»¨Ö±²¥ is your one stop shop for new car deals.

Click to follow us on WhatsApp, where you can keep up-to-date with all the latest news, reviews, advice guides and videos.